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An emotional Mike Trout took the stand on Tuesday in the wrongful death trial against the Angels, testifying about what a valued friend Tyler Skaggs was and how he knew team employee Eric Kay had a drug problem.
Skaggs died of an overdose while on a team trip in Texas in 2019 and his family is suing the Angels for $118 million for their culpability for Kay, who provided the counterfeit oxycodone pill that was laced with fentanyl to the pitcher.
During the several hours of testimony in Orange County Superior Court, Trout explained how he came to understand that Kay had a drug problem, with it first being raised when a clubhouse attendant suggested Angels players stop giving Kay, the team’s communications director, money for stunts he was doing.
Trout later testified, according to CBS News, that it was clear to him Kay was “using something” but he “didn’t know what it was.”
Kay would take a fastball to the leg, shave off his own eyebrow, or even eat a pimple off Trout’s back for money, which the attendant warned could be for “a bad purpose.”
“First thing that came to my mind was drugs,” Trout said, according to the Orange County Register. “That was what I got out of it. I don’t know what kind of drugs.”
Trout also testified that Kay seemed “off” at times and described how the former Angels staffer would be “sometimes just sweating, sometimes wired.”
The three-time American League MVP added during his testimony that at one point he offered to help Kay, though he didn’t recall offering to pay for rehab.
“I don’t remember me specifically saying I will pay for rehab, but I said if you need anything let me know,” Trout said.
It was quite clear when Trout began suspecting Kay of having a drug problem, but after the realization, he made sure to find out where any memorabilia he signed for Kay would be going for fear that it would be sold to pay for drugs.
He responded to a juror’s question about when he began to suspect that “it was closer to when Tyler passed.”
At the heart of the wrongful death suit is the responsibility the could Angels bear for what happened to Skaggs. The plaintiff’s side claims the team knew about Kay’s drug problem and failed to act on their policy to keep him away from the team. The Angels have denied knowing Skaggs had a drug issue or that Kay was distributing drugs to any player.
Skaggs died in his hotel room and was found on July 1, 2019.
The coroner’s report said the late MLBer choked to death on his vomit and a toxic mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone was detected in his system.
It has not been disputed that Kay provided Skaggs and five other Angels players with opioids during the civil trial, coming more than six years following the pitcher’s death, and Kay was convicted in 2022 of providing Skaggs with the counterfeit oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl.
Kay was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.
During his testimony on Tuesday, Trout highlight how he and Skaggs bonded during their first pro season together with the Angels affiliate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2010.
Trout said he “cried” when he found Skaggs died and described his former teammate as “very funny, outgoing, fun to be around.”
The MLB star explained that he and Skaggs would go out to dinner, watch football and play pickup basketball together.
The testimony came after Angels executives Tim Mead and Tom Taylor took the stand in the civil trial.
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